Snowflake Afghan

I made this a couple of years ago at our old house....I just learned how to properly crochet and couldn't wait to make something other than scarves.  Can't find the link right now for the instructions...will share later when I find it (that is my adorable child posing next to the afghan!).

Rain rain go away....

My view the other when I was out for my run....dodging mud and

 nasty Canada Geese (these two chased me down the path - I guess they didn't want their photo taken!).

 and look what you can do with leftover crepe paper....

 tah-dah!

 I have NO idea what to do with these now...

 More mindless crafting...keeps you out of trouble :-)!

Completely random

Little League baseball "season" in the Bay Area kicks off today ....

These are from last year. 

Yep, that's me with my boy - he's only in 3rd grade and look how tall he is!  He will pass me up by the time he's in 5th grade (and I'm not a short woman :)!

With my Mini Me, aka Sassy girl

Sassy Girl after one of her T-ball games (she's in pee wee softball this year).

Told ya this was completely random!

Spring is here (in California...)

These are napkins I made for our Spring fund raising for my kids' school.  I actually sewed the "rings" part instead of crocheting around a hair elastic.  I used designer fabric and cut 2" x 8" strips then sewed them up together and turned them inside out then stitched velcro for closure.  Silk flowers are from Michael's and I just used hot glue (the napkins were a steal for a pack of 12 at Home Goods!).

Rugelach recipe

This is my loot from the cookie exchange I went to yesterday.  My only beef is they only exchanged 1 cookie.  Gone are the days when cookie exchanges meant you got a dozen cookies from everyone.  This is literally a cookie (meaning 1) exchange :-).  

But the positive thing is - my hips don't need those dozens of cookies I was hoping to get.

Rugelach  (makes 4 doz)  pictured above

Cream

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened (use regular, not light, or it will taste blah)

1 tsp. vanilla

Add

2 c. all-purpose flour

- mix until soft dough forms

- divide dough into 4 equal round disks

- wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour

Filling (mix the following in a separate bowl)

3/4 c. mini chocolate chips

3/4 c. finely chopped toasted pecans

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 Tblspn cocoa powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 T. melted butter

- set aside

1.  Flatten 1 round dish into an 8" round on a floured surface.

2.  Sprinkle with 1/2 c. of filling and gently press into the dough.

3.  Cut into 12 equal wedges.

4.  Roll each wedge towards the center and shape into crescent.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet, point side down.

5.  Bake at 375 degrees, 20 minutes or until golden brown.

6.  Repeat process with remaining 3 rounds.

7.  When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Mmmmmm....

More baking going here...

It's Rugelach!

All neatly packaged in groups of 4 - all ready to go to cookie-exchange recipients.

My son said they look like miniature chocolate croissants :-)!

Recipe to post later.

It took 3 1/2 years...

...to knit this for my daughter!  

I learned how to knit 3 1/2 years ago and I went straight to "advanced" level 

for this project.  

Well, one of the things you learn along the way is that you start out slowly and choose simple patterns, and 

you don't knit an entire blanket in one huge piece.  Wish I had known to do this pattern in strips then stitch it up together.

3 1/2 years later - it's finally done.  And the color purple is no longer my daughter's favorite color.  

Now she is asking for the same pattern in red....

(don't double click - it's fuzzy!)